vaneeshKrishnamoorthy, a topManhattan-basedinvestment bankingexecutive, has beencharged with insidertrading and securities fraud thatgained him about $48,000 intrades based on misappropriatedinformation. Krishnamoorthy,41, was arrested on April 24.The U.S. attorney for theSouthern District of New Yorksaid Krishnamoorthy had accessto material nonpublic informa-tion concerning mergers andacquisitions for which the invest-ment bank — which was notidentified in court papers —might potentially provide financ-ing. If convicted, he faces a maxi-mum sentence of 20 years inprison and a maximum fine of $5million. The U.S. attorney’s officeidentified him as a vice presidentand risk management specialist.He was described in a Reutersreport as an Indian citizen livingin West New York, New Jersey.Krishnamoorthy appeared infederal court in Manhattanbefore U.S. Magistrate JudgeKevin Nathaniel Fox.“Avaneesh Krishnamoorthy ischarged with violating his dutyto his company and trading oninsider information. He allegedlyexploited his access to informa-tion about a pending acquisitionto purchase stock and options,making tens of thousands of dol-lars in illegal profit for himself,”acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kimsaid in a statement.According to Kim’s statement,a private equity fund contactedthe investment bank inNovember 2016 to get financingfor its acquisition of Neustar,Inc., a publicly traded companywhose shares trade on the NewYork Stock Exchange.Around that time, the state-ment said, Krishnamoorthyreceived a number of emailsregarding the investment bank’spotential involvement in thetransaction, including emails thatsummarized the details of thedeal.The U.S. attorney saidKrishnamoorthy, in violation ofhis company’s rules and policies,used the information to acquirestock and option of Neustar, anadvertising technology company.After receiving the emails, andprior to the public announce-ment of the fund’s acquisition ofNeustar, Krishnamoorthy pur-chased numerous Neustar calloptions and shares of Neustarstock, Kim’s statement said.Purchases of Neustar securitiestook place in brokerage accountsheld in the names of bothKrishnamoorthy and his spouse.Krishanmoorthy did not revealthese trades or the existence ofthese brokerage accounts to thecompany, the U.S. attorney’soffice said.Andrew M. Calamari, directorof the Securities and ExchangeCommission’s New YorkRegional Office, said in a pressrelease that “Krishnamoorthywas entrusted with confidential,market-moving information byhis employer and he misused itfor personal gain.”In a related civil complaint,the SEC said the employer hadbeen registered with the commis-sion as a broker-dealer since 1969and as an investment advisersince April 2012.The SEC said it was seeking anemergency court order to freezethe assets in the brokerageaccounts belonging toKrishnamoorthy and his wife,who has been named as a reliefdefendant in the SEC’s complaintin order to recover allegedly ill-gotten gains in the account in hername.

iting President DonaldTrump’s executiveactions on immigrationand the sharp increase in hatecrimes in recent months, Rep.Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), a co-founder of the CongressionalCaucus on India and Indian-Americans, said he intends topush the Trump administrationto do more to combat hatecrimes.

Pallone’s remarks came during an April 20 roundtable with
the South Asian community at
the BAPS temple in Edison, New
Jersey.

“The hate crimes we haveseen in recent months are com-pletely unacceptable,” Pallonesaid, “and this bigotry muststrengthen our resolve to worktowards tolerance and providejustice and protection for victimswho have been targeted. I willalso push the Trump administra-tion to do more to combat thegrowing number of hate crimesthroughout our nation and stepback from the toxic rhetoric onimmigration, race, and religionthat is dividing our nation.”The roundtable provided aninformal, interactive setting atwhich Pallone sought sugges-tions for steps to address theissues. The two-hour meetingwas attended by Indian-Americans and other SouthAsian community members whoare leaders in the business com-munity and active in local poli-tics.

“Mr. Pallone wanted to hear
from the community and to
understand firsthand about their
anxieties and concerns in the
wake of developments like not
only the hate-motivated killing
of an Indian engineer in Kansas
but also issues surrounding H-1B
visas and Trump’s executive
orders on immigration bans from
certain countries,” said New
Jersey South Asian Bar
Association President Amit Jani.
“He wanted to understand the
situation on the ground from the
community’s perspective.”

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) addresses Indian-Americans and South Asian-Americans at a roundtable to discuss ways totackle hate crimes at the BAPS temple in Edison, New Jersey, April 20.

A Tamil SangamOpens in GreaterHouston

A Tamil Sangam was inaugurated in Greater
Houston April 15 coinciding with the Tamil New
Year a day before to provide a cultural platform
for the area’s more than 1,000 Tamil families. The
event at the Sugar Land Tamil School branch
started with a Thirukkural recital by Malar Selvan,
one of the founders. The event’s main attraction
was a PattiManram, or humorous and thought-provoking debate. Photo above left, the
ceremonial lighting of the lamp inaugurating the
academy, and right, officials at the event.